Yet, before long, the speed of the brushstroke slowed, though Nie Kong’s brush did not pause even for an instant.
Several minutes later, Nie Kong smiled and rested his brush.
Hua Yi paused for thought almost every few strokes, and the duration of his contemplation grew steadily longer. Seated where Nie Kong had been, one could occasionally see his long eyebrows twitch, and hesitancy flicker across his ruddy face. After nearly ten minutes, Hua You finally shook his head and set down his brush.
“This old man is truly getting slow.”
Hua Yi sighed in resignation.
You Kong chuckled, “Senior need not be discouraged. The time limit is two ke, and we haven't even reached one ke yet.” What he and Hua You were competing in was decoction mixing: randomly selecting twenty herbs and combining them, without concern for medicinal efficacy, but merely to fuse the medicinal power of as many herbs as possible. This required careful consideration of the proportions of each herb and the order in which they were added, demanding immense mental effort and energy for derivation.
At the level of Nie Kong and Hua You, there was no need to actually perform the refining; merely gazing at the formula and pondering for a moment was enough to know whether the refining process would succeed.
“No need.”
Hua Yi gave a wry smile. “Even if I could finish within two ke, this old man is destined to lose. Nie Kong, might I have a look at your formula?”
“Senior, please do.” Nie Kong handed over the paper covered in script.
“Indeed… Good, good, so that’s how it is… To think it could be done this way, I understand now…” Hua You’s eyes shone brightly as he read through it, showering praise all the way.
After a while, Hua You let out a long breath. “Nie Kong, I truly didn't expect you to include all twenty herbs, and to pair them so ingeniously.”
“If this old man guesses correctly, refining according to these proportions and sequence, the medicinal power coalesced from these twenty herbs will achieve a fusion rate of at least eighty percent.”
“Compared to that, this old man falls far short. I could barely manage thirteen herbs before it became unsustainable, and the fusion rate of the medicinal power had already dropped to sixty percent. Adding any of the remaining seven herbs would have led to failure. In the Way of Decoction Mixing, this old man is far inferior to you in this spar; I have lost.”
“Before you arrived, this old man already anticipated this outcome, but as the Grand Elder of the Heaven and Earth Sect, I could not simply admit defeat without a fight; I had to give it my best effort. Now, having lost to you in this contest, this old man can accept defeat with a clear conscience!” A sense of relief washed over Hua You’s face, and then he smiled broadly, “Nie Kong, it’s time this old man sees the results of your efforts these past few months!”
“…”
Nie Kong let out a wry chuckle and took a scroll from his embrace.
Several minutes later, under the gaze of hundreds of eyes, the door of the Tianxiang Hall opened. But the scene that followed nearly made everyone’s eyeballs pop out: Grand Elder Hua You was ushering Nie Kong out with a beaming smile, showing no trace of dejection or frustration from defeat.
Nie Kong, too, was smiling faintly, revealing nothing of the true outcome.
Did the Grand Elder win this spar? Or did Nie Kong win? This harmonious picture of easy smiles left everyone utterly bewildered.
Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, Nie Kong’s form merged into the void, and in an instant, he arrived at the entrance of the Heaven and Earth Sect.
“Screech!”
With a high-pitched cry, Nie Kong ascended, riding his eagle south. In the “Spirit Rune Paper” scroll he held, there was now an imprint of Hua You’s spirit and a line of red text: [Year Month Day], Traversing Mountain Range, Heaven and Earth Sect, Tianxiang Hall, Eighth-Rank Medicine King Hua You defeated by Nie Kong!
The Grand Elder of the Heaven and Earth Sect, Hua You, was the last alchemist Nie Kong challenged.
In total, over three months, seven Medicine Kings had left their names inscribed in the scroll: Mu Wanqing, Mu Zhonglou, You Li, Ling Xiao, Tan Zhong, True Man Yue, and Hua You. Excluding Meng Feiyang and the two from the Spirit God Hall, the Eighth-Rank Medicine Kings of the Tianling Continent had all been rounded up.
As for the Seventh-Rank Spirit Alchemists, there were Tai Lanxiang, Ren Ruyi, Shuang Xing… Feng Wuji, Luo Yunxian, and nine others.
The list of Thirteenth Seventh-Rank Spirit Alchemists provided by Mu Zhonglou originally contained thirteen names. After excluding Gu Changgong, the Hall Master of Medicine Heart Hall in Spirit Imperial City, and Yuan Xunyu, the Great Elder of the Ink Snow Sect, and subtracting one Seventh-Rank Spirit Alchemist from the Mount of Mara Saint and one who avoided battle, the rest would all have left their spirit imprints on Nie Kong’s scroll.
Nie Kong was extremely satisfied with the results of this challenge campaign.
Next, Nie Kong was heading to Spirit Imperial City. However, he wasn't going to challenge Meng Feiyang or Gu Changgong; instead, he was going to deliver a “Returning Spirit Jade Fragment” to Gu Changgong, and perhaps see if he could cure Meng Feiyang’s injuries.
Before being wounded by the “God Devouring Flower,” Meng Feiyang, the City Lord of Spirit Imperial City, was hailed as the foremost Medicine King on the Tianling Continent. For millennia, the reason Spirit Imperial City was regarded as a sacred place by the continent's spirit alchemists was precisely because Spirit Imperial City always had an outstanding Eighth-Rank Spirit Alchemist occupying the seat of the "Number One Medicine King."
Otherwise, the status of Spirit Imperial City in the minds of alchemists would long have been replaced by factions like the Spirit God Hall; after all, the current number of Medicine Kings in Spirit Imperial City was even fewer than in the Spirit God Hall.
The matter Nie Kong was preparing to undertake would undoubtedly be enhanced by Meng Feiyang’s participation.
However, Nie Kong was still not entirely confident about whether he could rescue Meng Feiyang from the ice cave. That “God Devouring Flower” was too bizarre; while Tai Yan consumed power, this flower consumed the spirit and soul. Saving Meng Feiyang meant starting with his soul.
Fortunately, Meng Feiyang could hold on for about ten more years, so if this attempt failed, it wouldn't matter…
“It doesn't matter!”
In the Spirit God Hall, on the top floor of the God Piercing Tower, Kou Xilai waved his hand and said in a deep voice, “You handle these minor matters as you see fit. Great Elder, first tell me about Nie Kong’s situation—where is this fellow now?”
Lu Rong quickly reported, “News just came from the Traversing Mountain Range; Nie Kong left the Heaven and Earth Sect shortly ago. It seems the Grand Elder of the Heaven and Earth Sect, Hua You, has also been defeated!”
Kou Xilai frowned deeply, “What exactly does this Nie Kong want, challenging Seventh-Rank Spirit Alchemists and Eighth-Rank Medicine Kings everywhere?”
“Perhaps it is to temper his own refining abilities?”
Lu Rong admitted with some emotion. Neither he nor Kou Xilai had expected Nie Kong’s talent in refining formulas to be so astonishing. In consecutive challenges against more than ten Seventh-Rank Spirit Alchemists and Eighth-Rank Medicine Kings, he had won with overwhelming advantage almost every time; even formidable figures like You Li and Hua You could barely blunt his edge.
Kou Xilai shook his head. “That possibility is slim. Great Elder, which direction is Nie Kong heading now?”
“South!”
Lu Rong pondered, “Up to this point, besides the two Medicine Kings from our Spirit God Hall and the two Seventh-Rank Spirit Alchemists from Mount of Mara Saint and the Ink Snow Sect, there is no one left for him to challenge. He certainly won’t come to the Spirit God Hall. Mount of Mara Saint and the Ink Snow Sect are both in the east of the continent, so he should be returning to Spirit Imperial City now.”
“What about Yin Xu? Have the two High Gods managed to ascertain concrete information?”
“Not yet.”
“Continue maintaining contact with the two High Gods. If necessary, request a few more High Gods to descend. We must ascertain the true state of that Zuting Tian Shen Luo Shu Si as soon as possible.”
“Understood.”
“…”
To be continued.